I Miss Christmas
by Pre-Animation Man
Summary: Sweetie Belle miss Christmas in the strange town in the West. However, Sweetie Belle finds his god of nativity of Jesus before he reaches the goal.


"We might as well not even have Christmas this year," Sweetie Belle said to himself as he plopped across the mattress that was supposed to be on his bed (if anyone ever found time to help him put it together)! All around him boxes were stacked against the walls, and the windows were bare. Sweetie Belle and his family had just moved into this new home in very strange city in te west.

And as if moving the week before Christmas weren't bad enough, the apartment complex where Sweetie Belle and his family had to live until their new house was built didn't allow pets! Mash Buttons, Sweetie Belle's lovely boy, and best friend in the world, had to stay at a kennel! Poor Mash Buttons. Sweetie Belle thought about him and how they had played in the snow together the day before the move from his hometown back east—a town where it felt like Christmas, Sweetie Belle thought, not a place with sand and cactus!

"I miss Mash Buttons," Sweetie Belle said to no one in particular. "I miss snow. I miss my friends. I miss my room. I miss the big living-room window where we always put up the biggest tree we could find ... I even miss my teacher! In fact, I miss everything! This isn't going to feel like Christmas at all. I might as well call it Christ-miss!"

In the distance Sweetie Belle could hear the big moving truck driving away. He heard his mom and dad talking about where to set up the highchair so his baby sister could have her supper. Sweetie Belle didn't really care. He started to cry; and he cried until he fell asleep. When he woke up, someone had covered him with a blanket from one of the boxes. Outside his window he could hear some people singing "Silent Night . . . Holy Night." The singing stopped, and the people were talking to Sweetie Belle's mom and dad.

"Sweetie Belle, come on down," his dad was shouting up to Sweetie Belle's window. Sweetie Belle ran into the bathroom and splashed his tear-streaked cheeks, then dried his face on one sleeve before hurrying downstairs to join his mom and dad and little sister. They were busy talking to a group of adults and children gathered at the door.

"This is our son, Sweetie Belle," his dad said. Sweetie Belle just stood there looking at the people, but when a little girl smiled at him, he managed to smile back.

"Sweetie Belle, these people are singing Christmas carols and want us to join them," his mom explained. "Grab your jacket and a doggie treat for Mash Buttons . . . we'll stop by the kennel, too!"

All the songs were familiar to Sweetie Belle, so he was soon singing as loudly as anyone! When the carolers stopped outside the kennel, Mash Buttons was right by the fence wagging his tail so fast it made everyone laugh! Sweetie Belle gave him his treat and promised he would be back to see him tomorrow.

After singing every song Sweetie Belle knew, and some that he didn't, the carolers wound their way back to the church in the center of town. By this time it was starting to get dark, and Sweetie Belle noticed the driveway of the church was lined with paper bags glowing with a very warm, welcoming light. "What are those?" he asked Jon, one of the new friends he had just made caroling.

"Luminarias," explained Jon. "They are bags of sand with lighted candles inside ... we made them in Sunday School this week."

Once inside the church Sweetie Belle got to help decorate cookies and was given a large cup of fruit punch. Then it was time for the Christmas pageant to begin. Sweetie Belle and his family found a place in the sanctuary and Sweetie Belle gazed wide-eyed at all the lighted candles and the manger scene at the front of the church.

"And it came to pass in those days . . ." the minister began reading. The words of the Christmas story were very familiar to Sweetie Belle, and he listened and watched intently as a man and woman dressed as Joseph and Mary entered the center aisle of the church. "... And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn," the minister continued reading.

"No room in the inn . . ." Sweetie Belle thought quietly to himself. He knew how scary it was to be in a strange city for the first time. How scary it must have been for Mary when she was about to have a baby. But God had taken care of everything. There was no room in the inn, but God found a place for Baby Jesus to be born. Sweetie Belle smiled quietly to himself. Christmas had happened after all, he thought, even if Mary and Joseph were in a strange town.

As Sweetie Belle looked back at the front of the church he saw that the shepherds had also entered; they were boys about his age dressed in their dads' bathrobes. A girl with long blonde hair and a crooked halo was holding out her hands saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

Sweetie Belle felt his dad press a quarter into his hand. He and his family filed to the front of the church where they put their money into a special collection to be used to buy food for the needy. Sweetie Belle got to walk very close to the manger. He looked in at the little doll all wrapped up to look like Jesus. "The peace of Christ be with you," the minister said as Sweetie Belle turned to walk away.

Back home that night Sweetie Belle finally got his bed put together. As he snuggled down under the covers he thought about all the happenings of the day. "Thank you, God," Sweetie Belle prayed. "Thank you for showing me that Christmas is everywhere, and I don't have to miss it after all."


End file.
